WRAZ (TV)
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| WRAZ | |
|---|---|
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| Raleigh / Durham / Fayetteville, North Carolina |
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| City of license | Raleigh |
| Branding | Fox 50 (general) WRAL News (newscasts) RTV Raleigh-Durham (on DT2) |
| Channels | Digital: 49 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 50.1 Fox HD 50.2 RTV 50.3 Fox SD |
| Owner | Capitol Broadcasting Company (WRAZ-TV, Inc.) |
| First air date | September 7, 1995 |
| Call letters’ meaning | variation of sister station WRAL-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 50 (UHF, 1995-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (May-September 1995) The WB (September 1995-1998) |
| Transmitter Power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 614.1 m |
| Facility ID | 64611 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 35°40′29″N 78°31′40″W / 35.67472°N 78.52778°W |
| Website | fox50.com |
WRAZ is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Triangle region of North Carolina that is licensed to Raleigh. it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter in Garner. Locally owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company, the station is sister to the CBS affiliate WRAL-TV. Syndicated programming on this station includes: Seinfeld, Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, and Dr. Phil. It is offered on cable channel 13 in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, and most suburbs. It can be seen on channel 8 in Cary, Garner, Clayton, and Smithfield. The station broadcasts on cable channel 11 in Carrboro.
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[edit] Digital programming
WRAZ's digital signal is multiplexed. On its second digital subchannel and Time Warner digital channel 251 is the Retro Television Network known on-air as "RTV Raleigh-Durham".
| Virtual Channel |
Physical RF Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50.1 | 49.3 | 720p | 16:9 | main WRAZ programming / Fox HD |
| 50.2 | 49.4 | 480i | 4:3 | WRAZ-DT2 "RTV Raleigh-Durham" |
| 50.3 | 49.5 | 480i | 4:3 | WRAZ programming / Fox SD |
[edit] History
WRAZ signed-on for the first time on September 7, 1995 as an independent station owned by Reverend James Layton's Tar Heel Broadcasting. The previous December, Layton signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) for the then-under construction station with Capitol Broadcasting. Under this agreement, WRAZ's operations were run out of WRAL's studios. This station ran a blend of cartoons, classic sitcoms, and movies, as well as some CBS programming pre-empted by WRAL in order to broadcast ACC men's basketball games. Rev. Layton, the owner of low-power WACN in Apex, had a morning talk show on channel 50 early on. During the Friday quarterfinal rounds of the ACC Tournament, WRAZ aired the full slate of CBS soaps pre-empted by WRAL. In September 1995, the station picked up the The WB for the Triangle market after WNCN switched to NBC. In 1996, WRAZ re-branded itself as "WB 50" to reflect its network affiliation. But later that year, Fox decided to move its Triangle affiliation to WRAZ after its contract with charter affiliate WLFL ran out in 1998 due to a conflict over prime time newscast slots. WRAZ and WLFL switched affiliations on August 1 of that year.
Following the official affiliation switch, reality and talk shows as well as first-run court shows were added to the lineup and cartoons were cut to Saturday mornings. WRAZ's main offices and master control relocated to the Diamond View office building in downtown Durham next door to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the American Tobacco complex. Capitol Broadcasting bought WRAZ outright in 2000. However, unlike most new duopolies that start sharing the same studios elsewhere, WRAZ's studios remained in Durham. In most markets, such a duopoly would not have been allowed under the FCC's duopoly rules which forbid one person from owning two of the four largest stations in a single market. However, the FCC allowed Capitol to buy WRAZ since channel 50 was the Triangle's sixth-rated station at the time. To this day, it is the largest Fox affiliate owned in a duopoly with another "big three" station. Along with WRAL, WRAZ began digital broadcasting in late-2000 from a transmission tower located in Garner. WRAZ produces live broadcasts of Durham Bulls home games on site which air on its second digital subchannel that has RTN affiliation. That same channel began airing programming from the Retro Television Network on September 10, 2007. At one point in time, WRAL had operated a 24-hour local weather channel on WRAZ's third digital subchannel. Known as the "WRAL Weather Center Channel", it could also be seen on Time Warner digital cable channel 252. This switched to This TV on March 30, 2009.[1] WRAZ's website layout is in the format of Fox owned-and-operated stations even though it is not owned by the network. On June 12, 2009 at 1:00 PM WRAZ turned off its analog transmitter on channel 50. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display its virtual channel as 50.
[edit] Controversial programming
The station has had a history of preempting some Fox programming deemed too risky or controversial. It was one of the few stations in the United States to refuse to air portions of the reality television programs Temptation Island and Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire. WRAZ viewed the programs as anti-family. Instead, they showed reruns of Cheers or The Andy Griffith Show. Conversely, neighboring Fox affiliate WCCB in Charlotte aired the show despite the conservative background of its owner, Bahakel Communications. WRAZ used the same approach in 2003 by refusing to air additional episodes of Married by America claiming that the content of the show was demeaning to the institution of marriage. This also happened with Who's Your Daddy? in 2005 when the station cited its treatment of adoption. It was also one of a handful of Fox affiliates who initially declined to broadcast the controversial, two-part interview special on O.J. Simpson. It was set to air on November 27 and 29, 2006, before the network pulled the plug on the project. More recently, WRAZ was among a handful of stations that either delayed or refused to air the season premiere of Osbournes: Reloaded on March 31, 2009. In this station's case, the show aired at 11:35 at night local time replacing an episode of Seinfeld that had been moved to the spot immediately after American Idol.[2][3]
[edit] American Idol ratings
During season 5 of Fox's mega-hit American Idol, WRAZ has been consistently one of the network's top-drawing stations. While the national Nielsen ratings for February 28, 2006 were 17.0 with a 25% share of overall households tuning in, the station registered a 21.7 rating (equivalent to 213,788 households in the market) and a 31 share. Those numbers were roughly 28% higher than the national average. Part of the show's high ratings numbers in North Carolina are tied to the past success of artists such as season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken (who is from Raleigh) and season 3 champion Fantasia Barrino (of High Point). Season 5 had three finalists hailing from North Carolina, Chris Daughtry (McLeansville) who finished fourth, Kellie Pickler (Albemarle) who finished sixth, and Bucky Covington (Rockingham) who finished eighth. American Idol Rewind airs on WRAZ every Saturday night at 6.
[edit] Newscasts
In August 1998, WRAL began to produce newscasts on WRAZ starting with a nightly 10 o'clock broadcast. This competed with WB affiliate WLFL and its own prime time news. In 2000, WRAL aired the market's first high definition newscast on October 13. In January 2001, it converted all of its local news broadcasts to high definition including the WRAZ local shows. The WRAZ broadcasts now include weekday mornings at 7 for two hours and 35 minute at 10 seven nights a week. All of those newscasts are simulcasted on WRAL's second digital subchannel known as the "WRAL NewsChannel". They also continue to compete against WLFL which now outsources its nightly 10 o'clock news to ABC affiliate WTVD. This station usually simulcasts local breaking news coverage from WRAL. For national breaking news, it carries Fox News coverage while the latter airs CBS News. Otherwise, it may broadcast CBS programming in cases when WRAL cannot do so such as news-related emergencies.
WRAL Morning News on Fox 50
(Weekday Mornings 7 to 9)
- Anchors:
- Bill Leslie
- Kelcey Carlson
- Weather:
- Elizabeth Gardner
- Traffic:
- Brian Shrader
WRAL News at 10 on Fox 50 (10 to 10:35 P.M.)
Weeknights
- Anchors:
- Gerald Owens
- Debra Morgan
- Weather:
- Mike Maze
- Sports:
- Jeff Gravley
Weekends
- Anchor:
- Ken Smith
- Weather:
- Kim Deaner
- Sports:
- Bob Holliday
WRAZ features additional news personnel from WRAL. See that article for a complete listing.
[edit] References
- ^ New movie channel comes to Triangle TV - WRAL.com, March 30, 2009.
- ^ It's Possible That 'Osbournes: Reloaded' Has Gone Too Far -- Even for Fox - article written by Lisa de Moraes, Washington Post, April 1, 2009.
- ^ Why You Didn't See "Osbournes Reloaded" - blog article in The News & Observer, April 1, 2009.
[edit] External links
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